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The city’s biggest shopping complex here is Central Plaza, located a 10-minute walk from where I stay.
There are plenty of options for me to get there, but these options are not limited to just Central Plaza.

1. Walk
The cost-saving option, but not my favorite because of the weather. There are also a lot of stray dogs here. They won’t bite, but they tend to jump out of nowhere and start barking at you when you happen to pass them by. I got startled by them a few times, but the barking is the least of my worries. I just don’t want to step on any stray dog poo.

2. Songthaew
They function like a bus and each trip costs only 9 baht, regardless of distance. However, the timings are very irregular. Sometimes you don’t see the next songthaew until 30 minutes later. One observation I made is that the guys here always give up their seats to the ladies. Always.

3. Taxi
The meter starts at 30 baht, and because the distance travelled from the mall to my home is so short, I usually arrive at my destination before the meter even gets to jump. However, most drivers here don’t go by the meter. Their “market rate” is about 50-60 baht. One thing about Thais is that they are super friendly, so just as you are about to board a taxi, someone might suddenly appear out of nowhere and ask you where are you heading to. If the destination is the same, share the taxi and split the cost.

4. Tuk-tuk
I take the tuk-tuk home after shopping for groceries. Tap water in Thailand is non-potable, and I always buy at least 4 gallons of mineral water each time (I can finish 2 gallons within a week). My twig arms can’t carry 7 litres of water so I usually end up paying 60 baht for a tuk-tuk ride home.

5. Motorcycle
There is usually a group of motorcycle riders offering to send people to their destinations for a small tip. These riders, with their own personal motorcycles, can be seen in high human traffic areas such as bus terminals, shopping malls, night markets, etc. Just approach the group and tell them your destination, one of the riders will offer to send you there, and the price is decided before the journey starts. The price that I am usually quoted is 40 baht.

I’ve not driven here yet, and I don’t intend to, but I’ve been told that car rentals are at approximately 1200 baht/day.
I have ridden a scooter here though, and I must say that while traffic does seem messy, it is an organized mess. There are hardly any accidents despite plenty of near misses on the roads every minute.